Meskwaki Murder Suspect Sentenced

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A man convicted of murder in connection with a fatal stabbing on the Meskwaki Settlement in central Iowa has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Iowa says 21-year-old Jonathan Youngbear was sentenced Wednesday. He pleaded guilty in January to one count of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his 17-year-old cousin Severn Jefferson, who died in February 2014 in Youngbear's home.

As part of his sentence, Youngbear must serve five years of supervised release following his prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Youngbear's home is within the boundaries of the Meskwaki Settlement in Tama County, which is owned by the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa.